Arrangement for transferring yarn on a weaving loom



March 4, 1969 I FREIHOFER 3,430,666

ARRANGEMENT FOR TRANSFERRING YARN ON A WEAVING LOOM Filed Nov. 28, 1966 Sheet of 5 March 4, 1969 A. FREIHOFER 3,430,666

ARRANGEMENT FOR TRANSFERRING YARN ON A WEAVING LOOM Filed Nov. 28, 1966 Sheet 2 of 3 March 4, 1969 A. FREIHOFER 3,430,666

ARRANGEMENT FOR TRANSFERRING YARN ON A WEAVING LOOM Sheet Filed Nov. 28, 1966 United States Patent 3,430,666 ARRANGEMENT FOR TRANSF ERRIN G YARN ON A WEAVING LOOM Alexis Freihofer, Tann-Ruti, Zurich, Switzerland, assignor to Ruti Machinery Works Ltd., formerly Casper Honegger, Ruti, Zurich, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Filed Nov. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 597,284 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Dec. 23, 1965, 17,741/ 65 US. Cl. 139-125 14 Claims Int. Cl. D93d 47/14 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An arrangement for transferring weft yarn on a weaving loom which has a shuttle that introduces the yarn into the shed, which comprises a means that guides an end portion of a yarn to be transferred to the shuttle from one side of the shuttle through an aperture in the shuttle onto the other side, that also holds the yarn on the other side as a loop with its two halves extending from the other side through the aperture to the one side; and that allows the yarn to be drawn away therefrom by the shuttle when the shuttle is introduced into the shed.

This invention relates to an arrangement for transferring yarn on a weaving loom having a shuttle or like picking member which introduces weft yarn into the shed and which retains one end of the weft yarn in an aperture extending therethrough during picking of the yarn.

Weaving systems are known in which the weft yarns are introduced into the shed as individual picks having a hairpin shape or the like by means of a shuttle. In such arrangements, the weft yarn is taken from a yarn supply arranged externally of the loom.

In gripper-type shuttles, gripper rods or the like picking members, the yarn must be transferred to a gripper, clip, or like retaining means. In devices known for this purpose, one yarn end is displaced by a yarn guide to the gripper and is grasped thereby. In order to insure reliable grasping of the yarn, these transfer devices are required to operate with considerable precision. Similarly, exact positioning of the shuttle in its rest or yarn-receiving position is a necessary condition. In many cases, furthermore, a separate control means must be provided for actuating the retaining means.

Similar conditions must also be met with arrangements in which the yarn end is blown into the clip provided in the shuttle. Also in these cases, exact positioning of the clip relatively to the place at which the blown yarn is disposed is required. In addition, it has also been necessary to return the yarn end connected with the yarn supply and severed at the fabric to the shuttle. Furthermore, the yarn transfer arrangements which blow the yarn require a relatively large amount of energy. Finally, in the case of a blowing operation, the danger that the yarn may become caught up somewhere is greater than in the case of a mechanical mode of transfer which is, of course, more positive.

In accordance with the present invention, the requirements with regard to precision are at minimum and the need of control means for the retaining means on the shuttle is avoided. Advantageously, this invention is characterized in that means are provided for guiding an end portion of the yarn to be transferred to the shuttle in the form of a loop from one side of the shuttle through the aperture onto the other side of the shuttle and for holding the yarn loosely in the form of a loop on the other side of the shuttle, said means allowing the yarn to be drawn away by the shuttle when the shuttle is introduced into said shed.

The arrangement according to the invention is thus distinguished from the known devices by its simplicity, sturdiness, and reliability. During a weaving process, when the weft yarn picked into the shed is severed on the side of the yarn supply, severing is eifected directly at the selvedge. In order to be able to transfer the severed end of the weft yarn to the shuttle, it is necessary (as already briefly mentioned heretofore) in the case of known yarn transferring arrangements, that this end should be grasped and guided towards the shuttle, i.e., outwardly relatively to the center of the loom. Advantageously, in accordance with this invention, guiding of the yarn end towards the exterior of the loom is made superfluous, and no return movement of a yarn guide is required.

The invention will now be discussed in greater detail with reference to examples of its various embodiments and to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view showing one preferred embodiment of the yarn transferring arrangement of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an elevation view of the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1 at an instant when the shuttle has already travelled along a short distance of its path;

FIGURE 4 is an elevation view of the arrangement;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-section, taken along the line VV in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a schematic representation of a driving mechanism on the yarn transfer arrangement of the invention; and

FIGURES 7 and 8 are a plan view and a sectional along the line VIII of FIGURE 8 respectively which further illustrate another embodiment of the invention.

In all the figures, the same reference numerals designate like parts.

Referring to FIGURES l and 2, a shuttle 12 is disposed on a sley 11 and is shown in its rest position on the righthand side of the loom. The shuttle 12 is formed with an aperture 13 (see FIGURE 2) through which a weft yarn 14 can be passed as a loop having the loop halves 14a and 14b. The free end of the yarn 14 is retained in a suction nozzle 15. From this suction nozzle 15, the yarn extends through the aperture 13 over a drawing-in means such as a hook 16 about which it is looped and against which it bears. The yarn then extends through a yarnguiding eyelet 18 and a yarn brake 17 to a yarn supply bobbin (not shown). From FIGURE 2, it can be seen that the loop half 14a is located beneath the height of the hook 16 and the loop half 14b is above the height of the hook 16.

In order to prevent entanglement of the loop halves 14a and 1417 when the propulsion of the shuttle 12 commences, the shuttle 12 has a projection 20 which guides the lower loop half 14a into a curvatureshaped recess located under the projection 20 and the upper loop half .14!) into the slot 21. During the picking of the weft yarn 14, the recess forms the rear wall of the aperture 13.

Behind the slot 21, a yarn retaining arrangement is fitted in the shuttle 12. The said yarn retaining arrangement comprises a cover plate 22, which serves as an abutment (which has been omitted in FIGURE 1 for the sake of clarity), and the plate 23 pretensioned or biased against the cover plate 22. Biasing of the plate 23 is effected by means of the spring 24. Guide or positioning pins are also provided for positioning the yarn over plate 23. These pins are designated by reference numeral 48 in FIGURE 7.

The hook 16 acts to lay a loop 14a, 1412 through the aperture 13. For this purpose, it is movable through the aperture 13, so as to grasp the yarn 14 which is tensioned before being drawn through the aperture 13 between the yarn guide 18 and the suction nozzle 15.

Disposed behind the shuttle 12 is a rear wall or guide having a lateral face which faces the shuttle and which is disposed in the plane of the reed (not shown). Since the rear wall or guide 30 is partly hidden in FIGURE 2 by the shuttle 12, an elevational view of it is shown in FIGURE 4. The guide 30 is formed with a recess 31 having an upper horizontal boundary located at the level of the hook 16 which additionally serves as a carrier for the yarn. Furthermore, there is a second, shorter recess 32 separated from the recess 31 by a raised portion 33.

The recesses 31 and 32 are rounded rearwardly at the ends directed towards the hook 16, i.e., those facing away from the center of the loom. The raised portion 33 forms a projection that extends towards the hook 16. This design provides for clean separation of the loop halves 14a and 14b during the drawing of the weft yarn 14 into the shuttle 12. In order that the hook 16 may be movable forwardly and rearwardly through the guide 30, the guide at this end consists only of the arms 34 and 35. For further assistance of the guiding of the weft yarn end on entry into the shed, there is also provided a more or less horizontal plate 36.

In the cross-section shown in FIGURE 5, the elements heretofore described are shown once again, in order that the following discussion of their operation may be more clearly understood.

In order to initiate the picking of a weft yarn 14 into the shed (not shown), the hook 16 is first swivelled out of the position shown in the drawings through the aperture 13. In this working phase, the yarn 14 is in a tensioned position between the suction tube 15, the yarn guide arrangement 18, and the yarn clip 17 in which it is retained. After the hook 16 has swivelled forwardly through the aperture 13, it is positioned over the yarn 14 tensioned between the elements 15 and 18. Then, the yarn guide 18 moves upwardly and the hook 16 withdraws, grasping the yarn 14, again into its starting position. At the same time, the loop 14a, 14b is formed. At this instant, the shuttle is propelled from the right to the left.

FIGURE 3 shows the situation after the shuttle has moved towards the left by approximately a part of its length. Due to the movement of the shuttle 12 towards the left, the loop half 14b passes into the slot 21 in the shuttle. The loop half 14a passes into the curvature shaped recess disposed under the projection 20. Since the clip 17 is still closed, the yarn is drawn away about the curved portion of the hook 16. As this takes place, the end of the yarn 14 is drawn out of the suction nozzle 15 and the loop half 14b passes under the braking plate 23. This plate is pretensioned or biased only sufliciently toward plate 22 to enable the yarn, for as long as it is clamped by the clip 17, to slide through under the plate 22. This position of the yarn is shown in FIGURE 3.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the yarn end is just about to leave the aperture 13 in the shuttle 12. After the yarn has slipped still further through the retaining arrangement provided by plates 22 and 23, the clip 17 opens. Consequently, further sliding of the yarn between plates 22 and 23 ceases and the weft yarn is drawn off from the supply bobbin (not shown) and drawn into the shed. The posi- 4 tion of the yarn in the shuttle 12 during this yarn inserting phase is shown by the dot-dash line 14 in FIGURE 1. After the shuttle 12 has almost reached the other, lefthand end of the shed, the clip 17 closes again and the yarn is completely drawn out of the shuttle 12.

When the propulsion of the shuttle 12 commences, the end of the yarn 14 could become clamped between the shuttle 12 and the rear wall or guide 30, thus rendering proper operation impossible. In order to prevent jamming of this kind, the guide 30 is as hereto described, provided with a horizontally extending recess 31 the upper boundary of which is located at the level of the hook 16. By means of this recess, a free space is provided for the end portion of the yarn 14 travelling out of the aperture 13 in the shuttle and moving about the hook 16, so that no jamming of the yarn takes place.

In addition, shuttle 12 is provided in its side facing the guide wall 30 at the level of the retaining arrangement formed by plates 22 and 23 with a groove 60 for receiving the end of the yarn 14 during the travel of the shuttle. In order to facilitate the introduction of the yarn end into the groove 60 when the propulsion of the shuttle commences, there is advantageously formed in the guide 30 a second recess 32, the lower boundary of which is located at the height of the hook 16. In order to insure yarn movement which is unhindered to the maximum extent, it is expedient to round off the ends of the recesses 31 and 32 which are remote from the center of the loom.

The two recesses 31 and 32 are separated by the raised portion 33. As shown in the FIGURES 1 through 4 it is advantageous to considerably extend the raised portion 33 in the direction away from the loom center. By this construction, clean separation of the loop halves 14a and 14b during the propulsion of the shuttle 12 is improved and the possibility of the loop halves becoming entangled with each other is also decreased.

The plate 35 also improves the guiding of the yarn end or of the loop half 14a. This plate extends (as can best be seen in FIGURE 5) substantially horizontally. As already mentioned, the projection 20 in the shuttle 12 also serves for the clean separation of the yarn halves 14a and 14b. It is furthermore desirable to attach on the arm 34, below the book 16, a fur element or the like fibrous material having hairs or fibers which extend up to the height of the hook 16 and thus surround the loop formation on the hook 16. By this means, further improvement in the yarn travel is achieved, as it is drawn out about the hook 16 which acts as a carrier.

The grasping or guiding of the yarn through the aperture 13 in the shuttle, by a drawing-in means such as hook 16, can be carried into effect in various ways. For the sake of completeness, FIGURE 6 further illustrates an advantageous embodiment of the drive produced by the movement of the sley and shows the schematic arrangement of the sley 11, the shuttle 12, the hook 16, the rear guide 30, the suction nozzle 15, the eyelet 18, the clip 17, and also the yarn 14. Furthermore, the figure shows a reed 54 secured to the sley 11. In this embodiment the hook 16 is carried by one arm of a two-armed linkage 51 which is pivotal about the pivot 50 and which carries a roller 52 on its other arm. The pivot 50 is secured to the sley 11.

When the sley 11 moves forwardly (downwardly as seen in FIGURE 6) for the purpose of beating up the weft, the roller 52 is pressed onto the part of the cam 53 projecting towards the left in 'FIGURE 6. Since, in this working phase, the shuttle 12 is (as the figure shows) in its rest position, the shaping of the cam 53 causes the desired movement of the hook 16 through the aperture 13 in the shuttle 12 and, while the sley 11 again begins to move back, the cam causes the desired drawing-through of the hook to the position shown in FIGURE 6.

According to the embodiment shown in FIGURES 7 and 8, the weft yarn 14 to be picked is not drawn through the aperture 13 in the shuttle 12 but is pushed through the aperture. FIGURE 7 shows again the rear wall or guide heretofore described which has been omitted from FIGURE 8 for the sake of clarity. The means for grasping or guiding the weft yarn 14 to be picked is formed by the pusher rod 42 provided with a pair of retaining arms and 41. The rod is fast with a part of the loom. The retaining arms 40 and 41 are spaced apart so that a carrier 43 can be moved therethrough. The carrier 43 has a hook-shaped end 44. The carrier 43 is secured to the sley 11 by means of the support means 45, shown only diagrammatically in FIGURE 8. For producing upward downward movement of the carrier 43, a roller 47 travelling on a guide cam 46 is provided on the carrier. The guide cam 46 and also the suction nozzle 15 are fast on the loom.

In operation, the weft yarn 14 is transferred to the retaining arms 40 and 41 when the sley 11 is in its rearward position. The yarn 14 then extends from its free end positioned in the suction nozzle 15 over the retaining arms 40 and 41 through the yarn guiding eyelet 18 to the yarn clip 17 (not shown) and from there to the yarn supply. When the sley 11, with the shuttle which has meanwhile arrived in its rest position, moves into its foremost position (shown in FIGURES 7 and 8), the yarn 14 is pushed through the aperture 13 in the shuttle 11 thus forming the loop 14a and 14b. Simultaneously, the guide cam 46 produces a downward movement of the carrier 43 which moves together with the sley. .Consequently, the hook 44 travels, downwardly, slightly pushing away the position of the yarn 14 tensioned between the arms 40 and 41 towards the rear (towards the left in FIGURE 8), into the position shown in FIGURE 8. During the rearward movement of the sley 11 which then takes place, the carrier 43, which then moves upwardly again, accepts the yarn, bearing it loosely on the hook 44 about which the yarn forms a loop.

Directly thereafter, the shuttle 12 is again propelled. As this is done, exactly as described with reference to the first embodiment shown in FIGURE 1, the end portion of the yarn 14 is drawn over the carrier 43 and guided into the retaining arrangement formed by plates 22 and 23 of the shuttle 12 (see FIGURE 2) and finally retained by the shuttle during the picking of the yarn through the shed. This procedure takes place exactly as heretofore described.

While the novel features of the invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the appended claims, it is to be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in construction and arrangement of the features shown and described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An arrangement for transferring weft yarn on a weaving loom which has a shuttle that introduces the yarn into the shed and that retains the yarn in an aperture extending transversely therethrough during the picking operation, said arrangement comprising means for guiding an end portion of the yarn to be transferred to the shuttle in the form of a loop from one side of the shuttle through the aperture in the shuttle onto the other side of the shuttle and for holding the yarn loosely on the other side of the shuttle in the form of a loop having two halves extending from said other side through the aperture to said one side, said means allowing the end portion of the yarn to be drawn away therefrom by the shuttle when the shuttle is introduced into said shed.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 in which said means comprises a drawing-in means for drawing the yarn through said aperture in the form of a loop, said drawing-in means being adapted to move from a starting position on the other side of the shuttle through the aperture in the shuttle onto said one side thereof, to engage said yarn and then to move back into its starting position on said one side, whereby said yarn is drawn through said aperture, the drawing-in means serving, upon return to its starting position, as a carrier having saidyarn looped about it prior to introduction of the shuttle into said shed.

3. The arrangement of claim 1 in which said means comprises a pusher rod adapted to be displaced from one side of the shuttle through the aperture to the other side of the shuttle and adapted to be moved back through said aperture, the rod having retaining means at its end for pushing the yarn end portion through the aperture and a carrier disposed on the other side of said shuttle being movable relatively to said retaining means for receiving the end portion of the yarn from said retaining means whereby a loop of yarn is formed about said carrier.

4. The arrangement of claim 3 in which said carrier is actuated by a guide cam secured to said loom when the push rod is displaced to the other side of the shuttle.

5. The arrangement of claim 1 which further comprises a yarn brake through which the yarn to be introduced into said shed is guided, said brake being arranged between the shuttle and a yarn supply and being actuated at the commencement of the movement of the shuttle into the shed.

6. The arrangement of claim 1 in which the formation of a yarn loop is confined by said means within the levels defined by the upper and lower boundaries of the horizontally arranged aperture in the shuttle, said arrangement further comprising a guide located in the plane of the reed and adjacent thereto for guiding movement of said shuttle, said guide having a horizontally extending recess with one horizontal boundary located at the height of the formation of the yarn loop, one-half of the yarn loop being so guided that it extends below the level at which the yarn loop is formed by said means and the width of the recess in the veritcal direction extending from said horizontal boundary toward the lower boundary of the aperture in the shuttle.

7. The arrangement of claim 1 in which said shuttle has a slot extending therethrough from its aperture in the direction opposite to the travel of the shuttle during introduction of the weft yarn and leading to a yarn retaining arrangement, said shuttle also having a projection extending from one boundary of the slot which extends into the aperture and which is arranged between the slot and that wall of the aperture forming its rear wall, in respect to the direction of the travel of said shuttle.

8. The arrangement of claim 1 in which said means includes a drawing-in means which is disposed movably on the sley of the loom and which is connected with a linkage travelling on a guide cam, the guide cam being secured to the loom and being so shaped that, during the forward movement phase of the sley, movement is imparted to the drawing-in means for grasping the yarn which causes a loop of the yarn to be passed through the shuttle.

9. The arrangement of claim 1 in which a fibrous element is positioned on the other side of the shuttle for surrounding the loop of the yarn.

10. The arrangement of claim 2 in which the drawingin means has a hook-shaped end.

11. The arrangement of claim 6 in which said guide has a second horizontal extending recess which is shorter than the first recess, said second recess having one horizontal boundary which is adjacent to the first recess and is separated therefrom by a horizontally extending raised portion of the guide.

12. The arrangement of claim 6 in which the recess is rounded rearwardly at the end of the guide remOte from the center of the loom.

13. The arrangement of claim 11 in which said recesses have portions rounded rearwardly at the end of the guide remote from the center of the loom and the raised portion of the guide located between the recesses extends in a 7 8 direction away from the center of the loom beyond the 1,632,912 6/1927 Mullor et a1. 139125 rounded portions of the recesses. 3,163,184 12/ 1964 Cherpin 139125 14. The arrangement of claim 1 in which said means 3,174,514 3/ 1965 Schaffer 139125 includes holding means for retaining the free end of the 3,213,892 10/1965 Fluhmann 139126 yarn to be transferred to said shuttle on said one side of 5 FOREIGN PATENTS said shuttle during formation of said yarn 100p.

223,951 3/ 1958 Australia.

References Cited 519,825 2/ 1921 France. UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,218,888 12/1959 France. 522,583 7/1894 Bourque 139 3s1 1o 386941 4/1965 swltzerlmd- 948,945 2/ 1910 Smith 139126 JAMES KEE CHI, Primary Examiner. 

